The DHS Report "Controversy" Is All For Show

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 4/24/2009 10:02 am

I've written a few posts recently about the utterly bogus “controversy” surrounding the recent Department of Homeland Security report “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” pointing out how the Right was intentionally misrepresenting what the report said and repeatedly lying about it in order to generate outrage and raise money.

In one of those posts, I linked to this Hill article about conservative House Republicans who are demanding Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s resignation which suggested that House leaders were going to bring up the issue with President Obama:

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are set to meet with Obama at the White House on Thursday. It is unclear whether they will request Napolitano’s resignation, but several lawmakers said it was under discussion.

“I think leaders are going to bring it up with the president, maybe call for (her) resignation,” one conservative member told The Hill on Wednesday.

Today, The Hill followed up on the meeting, reporting that, despite the calls from a small group of GOP backbenchers, the leadership didn't even bring it up:

The White House and senior lawmakers on both sides of the aisle defended Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday as a cadre of Republicans continued to call for her resignation.

But House GOP leaders did not bring the topic up during a meeting with President Obama, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting.

...

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday morning that he was certain the topic of Napolitano 's resignation would be raised when he met with Obama later in the day. But according to a source with knowledge of the meeting, he failed to do so.

The article also quotes Ron Paul admitting that the calls for Napolitano’s resignation were attempts at political posturing, saying "this is mostly about politics."

Frankly, we have to disagree with Paul - this isn't "mostly" about politics, it's solely about politics. Fortunately the White House seem to fully recognize that fact and is rightfully dismissive of this entire "controversy":

“While these members of Congress engage in a typical Washington game, they are actually talking about a report that originated in the Bush administration,” said Nick Shapiro, a spokesman for Obama. “She [Napolitano] doesn’t have time for these games, and neither does the president.”